Question 1.
Drawing on your role in planning, preparing and structuring road PPPs at Zambia’s Road Development Agency, what are the most important factors in moving major road projects from national priorities to bankable and investable opportunities?
Response:
The first thing to note is to that a nationally important project is not automatically a bankable project. In my experience, the most important factor is doing the preparation properly before going to market. Many road projects are strategically important but have not been prepared well enough to attract private capital. Moving from policy priority to an investable opportunity requires rigorous project preparation that establishes the economic case, technical feasibility, commercial viability, affordability and an appropriate allocation of risk.
For road PPPs, this starts with developing a credible project pipeline and undertaking robust feasibility studies supported by reliable traffic and revenue forecasts, realistic capital and lifecycle maintenance costs, environmental and social assessments, and a clear understanding of the road’s wider economic function. Projects should be prioritised not simply because they require rehabilitation or upgrading, but because they generate measurable economic value through improved connectivity, lower vehicle operating costs, reduced travel times, increased trade and improved access to productive areas.
The second factor is balanced risk allocation. Traffic, construction, financing, land acquisition, environmental, foreign-exchange, regulatory and political risks should be allocated to the party best able to manage them. Transferring excessive risk to the private sector does not necessarily protect government; it can increase financing costs, reduce competition or ultimately make a project unbankable.
Third, governments need to engage investors, lenders and development finance institutions early through structured market sounding. This allows the proposed commercial structure to be tested before procurement rather than discovering fundamental bankability problems after bids have been invited.
Finally, PPPs require strong institutional coordination and transparent procurement. The contracting authority, PPP units, Ministry responsible for Finance, sector ministries, regulators and other public institutions must work from a common understanding of the project’s objectives, fiscal implications and risk allocation.
Question 2.
Africa PPP 2026 will examine how transport corridors can connect producers, ports, industrial zones and regional markets. What must governments and private-sector partners do differently to structure road and border infrastructure that meaningfully reduces logistics costs and accelerates intra-African trade?
Response:
We need to move from planning individual infrastructure assets to planning integrated economic corridors.
Governments and private partners need to treat corridors as complete systems, not as a series of separate road contracts. A well-built highway does little for trade if trucks still wait days at a border post, or if axle-load rules, transit fees and customs procedures differ at every crossing.
Governments should do three things differently. They should plan and procure corridor segments together with the border infrastructure and trade facilitation measures that make them work, including one-stop border posts, harmonised axle-load enforcement and digital customs systems. They should coordinate across borders through regional bodies such as SADC and COMESA, so that neighbouring countries prepare their sections to compatible standards and timelines. And they should use corridor-level revenue thinking, recognising that freight traffic from mines, ports and industrial zones can support the bankability of the road assets serving them.
Private partners can help by bringing operational efficiency, performance-based maintenance and technology such as electronic tolling and weigh-in-motion systems. There are opportunities for the private party to integrate toll roads with freight logistics facilities, truck stops, dry ports, one-stop border posts, weighbridge systems and digital traffic and customs platforms. Properly structured, these can improve both the commercial proposition of the corridor and the quality of service provided to users. They can also engage early with governments on structures that share demand risk realistically.
For a land-linked country such as Zambia, this is particularly important. Road infrastructure must be planned together with border facilities, customs systems, logistics hubs, dry ports and connecting infrastructure in neighbouring countries. A high-quality road loses much of its economic benefit if freight subsequently spends excessive time at a congested border crossing.
Ultimately, the objective should be to structure corridors around trade and productivity outcomes rather than infrastructure outputs. The emphasis should not simply be to finance the roads but rather how to structure the corridor so that goods and people move more efficiently, businesses become more competitive and regional markets become genuinely connected.
Question 3.
As a panellist in the session “Corridors Creating Markets”, what key experience, project lesson or partnership opportunity do you intend to highlight at Africa PPP 2026, and what outcome would you like the discussion to achieve?
Response:
I intend to highlight Zambia’s emerging experience in using PPPs to transform strategic road links into investable infrastructure while positioning road development within the wider regional trade-corridor agenda.
One important lesson from our experience is that PPP success cannot be measured only by achieving financial close or completing construction. A road concession is a long-term economic and contractual relationship. Governments therefore need to consider the entire lifecycle from project identification and feasibility through procurement, financing, construction, operation, maintenance, performance monitoring and eventual handback.
A second lesson is that corridor PPPs require a regional perspective. Zambia’s geographic position provides an opportunity to connect several major regional markets and trade routes. Consequently, investments in Zambia’s road network can create benefits beyond national boundaries by improving access between neighbouring economies, production centres and regional gateways. This reinforces the need for collaboration among governments, road authorities, PPP units, corridor institutions, DFIs and private investors.
At Africa PPP 2026, I would therefore like to explore partnerships around project preparation, long-term infrastructure finance, risk mitigation and cross-border corridor development, including mechanisms that can mobilise private and institutional capital while preserving affordability and value for money for governments and road users.
The outcome I would like from the discussion is a shift from exchanging general ideas about infrastructure gaps to identifying specific, investable corridor opportunities and practical partnerships. Ideally, governments, investors and development partners should leave Nairobi with a clearer understanding of which projects can be advanced, what preparation or risk-mitigation gaps remain, who can help address those gaps, and what the next steps are towards procurement and financial close.
In short, my key message will be that Africa should stop viewing corridors simply as transport infrastructure and start structuring them as platforms for trade, investment and industrial development. When we connect infrastructure to markets, we move from building roads to building economies.
